Not quite fit for “Downton”-level frenzy, this BBC co-production has a more languid appeal and at least one unmissable
performance in its slow march from the gardens and boudoirs of
British society to the bloody trenches of the Great War.

Directed by Susanna White (“Generation Kill”) and written by
Tom Stoppard from Ford Madox Ford’s novels, the show stars
Benedict Cumberbatch (“Sherlock”) as Christopher Tietjens, an
aristocratic government statistician committed to upholding
fast-fading notions of honor, duty, God and country.

Married to the cruel, promiscuous Sylvia (Rebecca Hall, the
unmissable one), Tietjens pines for the young suffragette
Valentine (Adelaide Clemens) with whom he once shared a near-kiss on a misty morning.

Whether fighting for an ideal England that he believes is
history or enduring the reputation of a cuckold, Tietjens
perfectly embodies Ford’s long-suffering good soldier.

“I stand for monogamy,” he pronounces at one point.
“Monogamy and chastity.”

Captivating Sylvia

Neither of which is nearly as entertaining as the
captivating Sylvia, who energizes “Parade’s End” with every
sneer, barb and knife twist.

“He’s making corrections in the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica!’”
she scoffs, after tossing a plate to startle her doodling
husband. “If I’d killed him no jury would convict!”

Best known for her supporting role in “Vicky Cristina
Barcelona,” Hall is a marvel here, at once vicious and
vulnerable. We’re on her side from the first episode, when she
casually dismisses her doting, possibly suicidal dolt of a
lover.

“Oh Potty, I do hope you’re not going to behave badly,” she
sighs. “I miss my husband. He’s a block of wood, but it’s like
being with a grown-up man rather than trying to entertain a
schoolboy.

‘Golden Boy’

Inside every man, says a wise detective on CBS’s “Golden
Boy,” is a good dog and a bad dog, and the dog that gets fed is
the dog that wins.

Jumping between the present day and seven years into the
future, “Golden Boy” is a before-and-after chronicle of Walter
Clark, a fresh-faced flatfoot destined to become the youngest
police commissioner in New York City history.

Clark (smoothly played by James Franco lookalike Theo James)
becomes an overnight hero when a shoot-out leaves two bad guys
dead, starting the chain of events that will culminate with him
in the top job.

So which dog did Walter feed on his meteoric rise? Did he
follow the path of his good-guy partner (Chi McBride) or of his
violent, corrupt department rival (Kevin Alejandro)?

That’s a fine, quirky premise, but based on the four
episodes available for review, the time-jumping device doesn’t
compensate for standard-issue crime plots.

A single mystery, however intriguing, isn’t enough.

“Golden Boy” airs Tuesday, Feb. 26, on CBS at 10 p.m. New
York time (moving on March 8 to Fridays at 9 p.m.). Rating: **

But affections and allegiances shift quickly in “House of
Cards.” Claire won me over, as did Netflix’s decision to stream
the entire first season of this prickly political drama.

Quibbles with the show that might fester over a three-month
season came and went in a blink when watching in binge mode.

Would I have committed weeks to Kate Mara’s off-putting
young reporter Zoe Barnes before she evolved into the drama’s
heart and conscience? Probably not, and it would have been my
loss. Zoe’s moral awakening is one of the series’ great payoffs.